


Swim or Drown? I'll fly, thanks

by TheSecondMouse



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, Female Harry Potter, Master of Death Harry Potter, Multi, a bit of Dumbledore Bashing and Master Fu Bashing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:33:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24879259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSecondMouse/pseuds/TheSecondMouse
Summary: What if Marinette suceeded in getting rid of her Miraculous but Alya still didn't receive it? Well, while Alice Potter was certainly used to being expected to save someone, she didn't expect to literally become a superhero!Fem MoD Harry Potter as Ladybug
Comments: 36
Kudos: 195





	1. What happend before

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like the story :)
> 
> Disclaimer:  
> I don't own Harry Potter or Miraculous Ladybug.

Alice Potter had been having an ordinary morning. She woke up in her own cosy apartment in Paris, made herself some breakfast and walked to the school she had enrolled in a year ago.

After the final battle, the older generation probably expected her to help restore Hogwarts, marry someone and to raise kids while doing charity work.

She did not.

Alice had been exhausted these last years, yes, but the British Wizarding World had decided to make her the leader of the Light side without asking her for permission and she had had to accept the role. She had forced herself to be better, smarter, braver and, although the lions surrounding her didn't want to hear it, more cunning in order to do this and do it well.

She was glad she didn't have to start training from the ground up.

After she came to Hogwarts she didn't waste time playing Quidditch. When she noticed how good she was at flying she tried to figure out a way to always have a broom with her or to learn to make everything she wanted fly like that and moved on. She learned everything she needed to survive as fast as possible. She loved stasis, featherlight, shrinking and room extension charms. The possibilities!

When she was three she learned that being defenceless results in pain. When she was six and came home with an A on her first test she learned that someone noticing her strengths before she could use them to protect herself ended in liesliesnoliesuncleVernondarknesshungerhungerpain. When she was eleven she learned that there is nothing that is like it seems, because if you see it like it doesn't seem it is what it isn't and that if a new world beckons the game still has to be won to keep what you gain. When she was fourteen she learned that the truth can hurt as much as a lie if you know how to use it. When she was fifteen she learned how to bind people with stories from their childhood and promises made and contracts signed. And when she was seventeen she learned that she hated lemon drops.

So she led them all to victory through pain and fear and suffering and they would have followed her anywhere. And she knew she would need them after the battles because one thing leaders of a war have to think about is what will happen after the fight.

Alice knew enough about history to realise that the conflicts that caused a war wouldn't be vanquished through killing the Dark Lord. If they weren't addressed they would fester as they did after Voldemort disappeared the first time. The ministry had been useless and corrupt even between the two wars. That's why a new system had to be build while the people who liked stagnation hadn't already fallen back on the old one and wouldn't think to protest. And if she wanted to bring about a new age of fairness, prosperity and progress she needed all the advantages she could get even if that meant striking hard while people still thought a war was going on or while they were mourning their family and friends.

As for who would say what changes were implemented how, well, since the only adults she knew either followed a madman who wanted to commit genocide, stood by and did nothing or followed a manipulative prejudiced old man whose life goal was to convince children to kill themselves she decided not to allow them to shape the new government.

The majority of her peers were in her army. They all joined because they wanted to survive without having to swear themselves to Voldemort and because they trusted her to prepare them first and later to make the right decision and give them the best fighting chance if they followed her.

She refused to give up the control over their lives that they had bled and died for just because someone said she should. Authority figures are allowed to make decisions in exchange for the protection they grant. You shouldn't take a crown without being willing to pay what is asked for it.

In conclusion she would need to run a country after the war was won because no one else had the political power, the ability to withstand the pressure and was someone she trusted not to prioritise personal gain, the wellbeing of the majority or the pureblood ideology over making sure that everyone's basic rights were secure.

They had thirty years to make theirs a better world. Now it was her turn.

After she had killed Voldemort she was prepared to first help defeat the other deatheaters and then establish herself as the leader of Britain for the foreseeable future before she could allow herself to collapse.

The war was over faster than she expected though because it turned out that the dark marks were slave bonds. Because slave bonds were old, right of conquest was still valid and they were transfered to the one who killed their master. Therefore they were unable to deliberately harm her or those she considered hers without her explicit permission after she killed Tom Riddle.

Since she could _feel_ her ability to impose orders upon those who had followed Voldemort, she first shouted with a sonorus charm that the fight was over and that the deatheaters were not able to harm them anymore. She commanded everyone to heal who they could and call her if they found someone they could not.

On the first day all who were still alive got medical attention. The deatheaters were forced to converse with Alice without being able to lie. About a third were convinced of her goals afterwards but she bit all of them to write down any possibly useful information or advice. She made sure that they couldn't betray her, sabotage her or harm anyone either physically or mentally without provocation but that they were still able to defend themselves.

She had a meeting with her army and informed them of the situation, gave new orders and made time for questions and doubts. At the end everyone was convinced. They understood her opinions since they themselves had experienced the neglect and harm the factions had caused and they trusted her. She had protected them, fought for them and supported them. There were some doubts about the deatheaters but as long as they were under her control and out of sight everyone agreed to tolerate the situation. All swore they would support her.

After the first week a committee was formed who published a new newspaper and distributed information about the final battle, that the war has ended, that Alice Potter would rule and that in her reign Wizarding Britain would recover and prosper. There was a fair bit of propaganda - she wanted them to accept an entirely new system, so she had to convince them of it but she did not promise anything she didn't aim to achieve.

A first draft of laws that oriented itself on British muggle law, the laws of the other wizarding countries, the laws of Wizarding Britain before and Alice's and her advisors' wishes formed into an apllicable form by the former deatheaters was published. The new journalists noted down the most important changes and more elaborate laws were promised at the end of the month.

They informed the population that all deatheaters were under the control of the Defender's army and that another group was acting as aurors, as to minimize the chances of people being able to successfully use the situation to disguise crimes. Bracelets were distributed with the newspaper that could be pressed to alert the new aurors.

People were encouraged to come to Hogwarts, to offer there services and to help rebuild their country.

If they wanted to address problems or offer suggestions, they were invited to send owls to the "Public Relations Department".

Representatives of all beings were invited to the castle. Alice went to the goblins to negotiate the consequences of her break in and managed to get pardoned on account of it being war, Gringotts' neutrality being preserved, her politics being in favour of the goblins and her telling the goblins how she managed to break in.

A message of Voldemort's death and Britain's rough plan for the future was sent to the other countries to show that although they were not ready to interact more with them right now they did not wish to ignore them as the previous government had.

After the first month a system was established for the most part and everyone knew what to do in general. "Creatures" now had the same rights as wizards and witches if they were comparativly intelligent according to the law. Everyone worked too long and Alice worked longer than anyone else. At least there were department heads now, thank Merlin, who only brought the most important issues to her attention although they all had to answer to her. The most important issues were numerous but still: progress.

After six months the R&D department presented the first handys and computers that worked around magic.

Apparently taking the time to introduce the Weasley to the most important muggle inventions was a really, really good investment. Not only were they determined to be able to use them in the Wizarding World and roped others into helping them develop but they also had a hundred ideas how to improve everything with magic.

Spells were connected with the Internet which if prove of real magic was published immediatly allerted the Court, as the new government was called now, and deleted it after copying it into the files in the castle.

Every citizen of magical Britain had to take a magical oath not to reveal magic to any muggle, that would if they were in danger of breaking it make them unable to continue. After five such instances in one year they would have to pay a fine. If someone refused to take such an oath they were forced to spend up to a week at the new center for continuing education where they would get a history lesson on slavery, the muggle part of both World Wars and were they were showed photos of victims of torture and experimentation and told explicitly what people can do to one another.

The general message was: this is what happens when people are afraid, when they are jealous, when they think they have an opportunity to take something from others without the majority protesting, when they are able to blame their problems on others, when they differentiate between them and us. Do you really want to know what would happen to you, to your family and to the Wizarding World when 8 trillion people find out that you could have cured most of their diseases threehundred years ago, that you could kill them with two words or erase their memory?

It took nobody more than three days to agree to the oath.

The Hope Academy for children from three to seventeen opened. It was voluntary from three to six. Every year all students had to undergo an exam by a mediwitch and a mindhealer who were scanning for abuse and sickness. There were new competent teachers and new compulsory subjects such as mathematics. 

Plans for the Starlight University were still in progress.

After a year there weren't emergencies that threatened to destroy the country all the time, so Alice finally got five hours sleep most nights. And actually had time to eat a sensible meal and unimportant stuff like that.

After five years Wizarding Britain was still adjusting but the industry was blooming, new inventions were made all the time, most beings were happy and the laws were followed by the majority. A democratically elected council had been established and a lot of new children were born now that there weren't changes all the time.

She had survived ten attempts to kill her without any permanent danger. It would probably have been more except people knew that she was the Girl-Who-Made-Voldemort-Regret-Trying-To-Assassinate-Her. And the deatheaters were under her control. And to most people she was a symbol of hope. And now most of the would be assanins had just kind of given up.

Trials were held for those who allegedly committed crimes. They were not judged by Alice although she could theoretically interfere. She mostly made all judges swear an oath to rule impartially and according to the law and all who worked in departments to work impartially and to report attempts to bribe or blackmail them imediately. Magical oaths were so practical, why weren't they used before all the time? Oh, right, because no one important had wanted the corruption to end.

Death sentences were now a thing of the past and veritaserum, the showing of memories or the swearing on their magic that they hadn't committed a crime were almost standard. Askaban was renovated and the dementors were not reinstated, most didn't survive the war either way.

Because Alice insisted upon it, the deatheaters had had their trials too. The council instead of imprisoning them wanted them to remain free since they were bonded to Alice and do community service for a specific time depending on their individual situation and on the crimes they commited. According to them they should have to help the population which they harmed and Alice could make sure they would not harm anyone. She agreed to it under the stipulation that after this they would not be further discriminated against and that she they would have sufficiant time to sleep, eat and so on. There also needed to be someone responsible for solving problems of the prisoners as well as civilians.

After this decision was published a prisoner who had pleaded guilty asked to swear himself to Alice but only for a specific timeframe. People could swear themselves to others without their presence and the rules Alice made applied to everyone bonded to her in the spirit instead of the letter of the law so there would not be any loopholes to exploit. That's why the jury and judge allowed it after getting Alice's reluctant agreement. She did not want to reinstate slavery and therefore made sure the option of going to prison instead had to be offered but criminals helping others and spending time with those their actions harmed did seem a better option than people just rotting in prison.

Ten years later Alice noticed that although she knew that her body could still change, as she used her free time to successfully heal herself and she now looked healthier than she ever did before, she did not seem to have aged.

She tested her age with Goblin magic herself since small parts of it were now available to the public. It showed her to be seventeen.

For two years she had actively worked on getting Wizarding Britain to slowly rely less on her. If she died or took the damned holiday she deserved the country should, in her opinion, not just collapse.

It looked like she would have to speed up her plans if she didn't want anyone to notice her unusual situation.

Or she could control the release of the story and stay where she was trying to weather the storm.

Or she could take take the best from the other two options. She already was the Girl-Who-Lived and the Woman-Who-Conquered. It wouldn't be that difficult to turn herself into a legend. A figure who would come to help if she was called in a time of need. Whose immortality was a gift of Lady Magic and Lord Death themselves. That most wizards and witches believed in those would help her. As a bonus she was able to shed the responsabilities and duties the wizards had piled upon her when she had been a two year old, while still giving her the opportunity to make a comeback if she needed to.

Yes, she rather liked option three. Maybe she could finally experience a muggle education and live outside of Britain. She did hear good things of Paris and her French was getting rusty anyway...

Perhaps there was a reason the hat wanted her in Slytherin, she mused. It takes a great amount of ambition to shape a world to your satisfaction and a lot of cunning to get away from it all after making yourself into a most respected and revered Queen.


	2. Almost everybody deserves some tea and cookies

Alice Potter had been having ordinary days for a while now. She went to school, did her homework and explored Paris. She tried out new hobbies, new spells, rituals and potions. She went to restaurants, sampled different dishes they offered and made attempts to recreate them. And if she sometimes took a few days of because all she could see was blood, well, she wasn't close enough to anybody that someone would worry about her.

She did not find true understanding in a society where everyone had experienced part of the war, she would not find it here in a civilian muggle child.

And most of the time the naivety of those around her was relaxing and amusing instead of grating on her nerves.

She had enjoyed the time to herself. The privacy and the freedom were a whole new concept. She could dress, behave and live how she wanted without having to consider the political consequences.

On the first day of school she wore combat boots, comfortable jeans and a black shirt. To alter her appearance a bit she had grown out her hair with a quick spell and dyed it a vibrant blue and purple. It hid her faded scar and since she had been keeping her hair short ever since her first year at Hogwarts it was enough to avoid recognition at first glance.

She timed her arrival as to be the first one to come in. To be anything near relaxed she had to choose a seat in which she could not be attacked from behind. After greeting the teacher she elected a row at the back, from where she could see the whole room as well as the entrance. She took out a book and began to read.

Alice still had a lot to catch up on, so she was in a class with fourteen-year-olds now. Last year she had kept up a glamour to make herself look younger, but now she didn't think it was necessary anymore. Officially "Elizabeth Red" was sixteen, had been sick for years and was therefore not able to go to school in that time. She was much better now but still had to take a day off sometimes.

It wasn't entirely wrong...

She watched as her new classmates came in talking and laughing or still half asleep. While everyone found a place to sit, a blond girl marched up to another who had already taken a seat and demanded that "Marinette Dupain-Cheng" stand up and let her sit there because she wanted to be close to "Adrien". 

Liz took a quick moment to evaluate situation. Marinette seemed to be hunched in on herself, while the blond girl stood arrogantly and confident. A girl with red hair seemed to follow her lead and helped her surround Marinette. The teacher and the other children were watching, but it didn't seem like they would intervene with the exception of the "new girl". Since new girl was almost out of her seat and Marinette was still making attempts to offer logical counterarguments Liz decided to give it a minute. There was the potential of a friendship between Marinette and new girl that would probably benefit both. Additionally that would give the teacher the chance to react in a recomendable manner after the fight.

The blond girl's name apparently was Chloé and while new girl defended Marinette and was now happily chatting with her the teacher tried to move on without talking about the confrontation.  
  
"Right, has everyone found a seat? For those of you who don't yet know me, I'm Miss Bustier, I'll be your teacher this year."

Yeah, no.

Liz made sure her voice was calm and loud. "Excuse me Miss. But if you do not wish to address the behaviour of Chloé, I would liked to be excused to go the principal's office to report a case of bullying."

Miss Bustier's jaw dropped. Her classmates' jaws dropped. There was absolute silence. Liz kept a straight face, while everyone stared. She actually wanted to make this her new memory for her Patronus, but laughing in her teacher's face after threatening would probably not have been as polite as one should be.

"Miss?"

"No, I'm sure that will not be necessary. I wanted go over the attendance list first, but I suppose I can do that while Miss Bourgeois reports to the principal's office." The teacher's voice was a bit too high.

Chloé did not move. "What?" she asked disbelievingly.

This seemed to give Miss Bustier some strength back. "I said, Miss Bourgeois, that you will go to the principal's office. Now."

Chloé stood up and glared at Liz and then at Miss Bustier. "This is ridiculous! My father will here about this!"

"I will accompany Chloé, Miss. The principal should at least hear two sides of the story, I think. You wouldn't want the principal to get a wrong idea of what happend here, right?"

The teacher gritted her teeth. "Very well, but I will need to know your name before you go and you will need to catch up on everything you will miss because of accompanying Miss Bourgeois."

"Of course. I'm Elizabeth Red."

They walked out of the classroom and along the corridors in silence. Liz's calm only served to infuriate Chloé further.

"This all your fault" she hissed the words. "And you will pay for it."

"Do you think bullying is acceptable?" Liz asked rather matter-of-factly.

Chloé glared. Liz had to say it was impressive for a fourteen-year-old, but she had nothing on Snape. "I have been Adrien's friend for years. It was only fair that I should sit near him. Besides, you do know I'm the mayor's daughter, right?"

"I think you could be a successful person, Chloé. You are confident and assertive enough." It was kind of cute how suprised she looked while still trying not to lose the veneer of hatred. "But using your father's name and harassing others isn't how you will get there. The first makes it seem like you aren't strong enough to fight your own battles and the second leads others to the conclusion that you're not someone they want to work with let alone do favours for. Maybe some go along with your demands now but most will grow more confident."

When they were asked to sit down in a waiting area before the principal's office, Chloé's face was thoughtful though a bit defiant and angry. Liz hoped she had gotten through to her. She was still a child and children's opinions were easier to change than those of adults.

It was impulsiv, but she wanted to fix this. Chloé looked lonely. She needed a friend who didn't always give in to what she demanded, who didn't let her bully other people but also someone who she could be sure wouldn't desert her if she lost her influence.

"If you want you can come over after school."

What? screamed Chloé's expression. "What?" she asked.

"I was planning on making cookies. You should come."

"Cookies" she repeated dubiously.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's fun making them and they are delicious."

At that moment they were called to come in.


	3. The world turned upside down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the first story I ever posted, so I was kind of ridiculously happy about the positive comments, kudos and bookmarks and wrote a third chapter. Thanks for the encouragement 💜

Marinette's first day at school did not go as she expected it to. First a man was almost run over by a car and she only just managed to pull him out of the way. Then the two new girls in her class actually stood up to Chloé and she made friends with Alya. Elizabeth even pressured her teacher into sending Chloé to the principal's office. And now Chloé was walking out of school with the girl who was responsible for Miss Bustier punishing her at all and was talking about recipes with her?

Impossible.

Someone saying something against Chloé? Unlikely, but it could happen.

Marinette herself making friends with one of those who did? A logical consequence.

But Chloé being friendly with one of them? Impossible.

Maybe it was a case of keeping his friends close and his enemies closer?

But Chloé usually just annihilated or circumvented those opposing her, so probably not.

As all students went to the exits she overheard the topic of the conversation between Elizabeth and Chloé changing. Apparently they were now talking about spineless fools. That sounded more like something Chloé would say. Maybe they found some sort of balance between them and now changed between mocking others and defending them? While eating cookies?

Marinette narrowed her eyes. She wasn't sure if she liked this new dynamic. It was probably better than them fighting against each other and burning the world as collateral damage but Elizabeth and Chloé would be unstoppable if they worked together well. Chloé already had a lot of influence over her father and therefore over the city. Elizabeth was able to gain the respect of her class and Chloé in the first ten minutes. So Paris, Marinette concluded, would have to just do what they are told in order to survive an alliance between these too.

Especially if the two of them met after school and made battle plans under the guise of baking.

Actually, she was less bothered by that than she would have been if Chloé had tried to rule the world alone. Elizabeth didn't seem tolerate harming others without a reason and Chloé didn't make degrading comments about anyone on their way out as she had done in the past.

Perhaps Chloé would change and not be a "bad guy" anymore. Though Alya's statement about Marinette and herself being the good guys didn't seem quite right in general.

She was glad that Alya defended her and she did think you should do something against people hurting others in anyway, but it was the responsibility of the teacher to stop it. It was not okay that Chloé tried to force her to give up her seat or that she insulted Alya and it all happend in the second row while Miss Bustier was in the room at her desk. She couldn't not notice.

Marinette had hoped that after being forced to act to Chloé's behaviour her teacher would react better next time. But she sent Ivan out without listening to his explanation or looking further into what happend.

Marinette just hoped Ivan wasn't too upset about it...


	4. One child saviour should be enough

When Chloé and herself reached her apartment Liz had learned that

1\. Chloé actually was trying not to offend her, even if reserve wasn't her strong suit

2\. She never made cookies before

3\. She enjoyed hearing music from one Jagged Stone whom everybody knew, under what rock have you been living?

"Behind rocks, in a boarding school in Great Britain for a while, technically."

"You have been here a year, haven't you? It's high time you got caught up."

"Probably."

"Well, I suppose I could educate you."

4\. She didn't think it was unusual that they were alone and did not ask for an explanation where her parents were.

Liz was taking out a bowl when Chloé, who was searching for a recipee on her phone suddendly said: "What the HELL?! Is this a prank or something?"

She turned to Liz. "According to all my group chats there's a stonemonster in Paris destroying everything in it's path. They sent some links", she clicked on one. "Since this is a livestream from a reliable channel, apparently this is real. How is this even possible?" Chloé was staring at the screen.

Liz in the meantime hoped that this hadn't had anything to do with the Wizarding World. If it did, it not only meant that the deleting spells had failed, but also that magic would be exposed soon and the whole world would probably descend into chaos.

Looking on the Wiznet there wasn't a mass panic, so she assumed nothing collapsed and her world was still safe.

But if it wasn't her kind of magic that caused this, what was going on?

She watched with Chloé how the stonemonster threw cars, destroyed houses and how it only grew bigger when police officers shot at it.

Perhaps Liz would have investigated had she been alone but she couldn't leave Chloé in her apartment by herself. Not only would her leaving arose suspicion if she didn't want to hex Chloé but at the moment she was also responsible for the younger girl. This building could very well be attacked and though she had some wards and protections she did not know what this attack was.

Additionally her involvement would pose a risk. She did not want the muggle world to discover magic and the Wizarding World to discover Alice Potter's presence in France. Since she didn't know what this "Stoneheart" was and therefore could not end this quickly and discretely the probability of negative consequences was rather high.

She had learned that she could not save everyone everytime.

So she would observe Stoneheart from the distance and try to figure out what was going on sitting on her couch with Chloé.

–––––––––––––

Apparently there were villains and superheros now. Even if nobody else metioned it, to her it seemed pretty obvious that these superheros were kids. Kids with no armour besides some costumes, no experience and no training. And the whole city already started to rely on them for security since they were the only ones that had been able to stop Stoneheart and transform him back into a child.

Great.


	5. A present or an attempt at murder?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently I should update :)

The next day school was chaotic. Multiple people had been turned into stone a few hours after the Stoneheart had first appeared. Everyone was scared but people tried to reassure themselves that the new superheros would solve this mess soon enough. They did it the first time, surely they would do so again? It probably wouldn't be much longer until everything would be fine. Right? Right.

Liz wasn't so happy either. Before going to sleep yesterday she had cast a notice-me-not, a noise and smell canceling spell and had put on her invisibility cloak before walking to the nearest stonemonster and trying to figure it out. She had reason to be cautious. A probably supernatural unknown with the ability to control people could be really bad. Especially if they were able to control her.

Stoneheart had seemed to be a test run, not only for the superheros, although that was more obvious, but also for the "villain". This was not the extent of their capability. The question was how much more they could do and how smart they were.

According to her analysing spells the people turned into stonemonsters were just stone. Well, stone with a small amount of magical residue. But not with enough to transfigure someone and then control them the way the kid (Ivan?) had been.

And the security cameras in Paris hadn't caught some magic users attacking others. There were videos of butterflies instead. Pretty black butterflies who transformed people when they touched their clothes. Why?

She really did not want to deal with a wizard who figured out how to distribute potions or something through animals.

She had contemplated not leaving her apartment today.

Maybe knowing what was going on was just not worth it.

"Elizabeth!"

She could have just stayed in bed. Maybe she could've read a book.

"Elizabeth!"

Perhaps played some games on her handy.

"Yes?" Liz turned to the girl who had been calling her. She had heard her before, she was just figuring out wether she really wanted to talk to anyone right now. And contemplating why she hadn't thought a peaceful year had been suspicious.

"Hi. Ah, I'm Marinette? I wanted to introduce myself. And, uhm, thanks for standing up to Miss Bustier. Anyway see you later. Bye." The sweet summer child practically ran away.

A bit of a flustered girl, it seemed. And not that good at sneakily dropping things into other people's bags.

Marinette really didn't seem like the sort of person who wanted to harm others, especially with no reason to do so. In all probability it was a gift.

And Liz liked to think that she was better at assessing others than she had been when she was eleven. Then again what use is experience if it does not instill paranoia. With magic involved Marinette could be compelled to do anything, or just have been convinced this was for the best the muggle way.

It looked liked she would go home after all. Better be safe than cursed or dead. She hadn't wanted to go out today anyway.


	6. Narnia

When Liz arrived at her apartment she went straight through the sitting room and her bedroom to her wardrobe. She quickly hissed §Athena§ and stepped through the doors that opened to reveal a large room.

The countertops took up the most space but there were also a lot of shelves visible in which ingredients, couldrons in different sizes, books and tools were stored. A few doors led to rooms where she could dry or otherwise prepare the raw materials. At the moment only the moon chamber was in use and the flax had to stay there for another two weeks before she could work with it.

Because she had wanted to have a room were she could brew and experiment, Liz had applied room extension and safety charms on the inside and security charms on the outside and had created her own laboratory in her closet after she had moved in. If something exploded in there it would not reach the rest of her apartment and she would be transported out of the closet into her bedroom. Breaking into it was practically impossible and the time she spent setting it up was well spent in her opinion.

She was able to built it according to her ideas and nobody knew of it. It was practical.

If the wardrobe was opened without speaking the password in parseltongue she or any intruders would only be able to access her clothes.

Liz also appreciated the lack of climbing. In contrast to a suitcase she could just walk right in.

The doors closed behind her, she set down her bag and pulled on one of her dragonhide gloves. Since they blocked most magic, she needed her other hand free to cast a modified protego. It was made to move with her and allow her to interact with her environment while still maintaining a protective barrier.

After she was as protected as she reasonably needed to be she took out the box Marinette had given to her with her gloved hand. It was made out of dark wood and had red signs on it that glowed a bit like there was energy contained within.

"Well, that's not suspicious at all." Liz murmured.

She tried some analysing spells but they resulted in almost nothing, _again._

Since it was not cursed though, Liz opened it.

She barely had time to see a pair of red earrings with black dots before a blinding light was emitted from the box. Liz threw it away while drawing her wand. The light could probably not harm her behind the protego but it was still too bright.

Then it stopped just as suddendly as it started and while she still trying to figure out what had just happend a small creature appeared.

"Marinette?" they squeaked.

Alright, so there had been a sentient being trapped in the box or perhaps even in the earrings. Surprising, though not the most unusual thing she had seen. But her magic should have picked up on it. Which meant the odds were good that this had something to do with the other occurences that could not be properly explained, namely stonemosters. It was very fortunate the being could talk. They could clear matters up. In any case, it would be better to start things on good terms, so she hid her wand.

"No, I am Elizabeth Red. May I ask what and who you are?"

The being whirled around and their eyes widened. "Oh! She really left me." the creature said looking like they would start crying soon. Then they seemed to remember the question and tried to smile at Liz. "I'm Tikki, the kwami of creation."

"It is nice to meet you. Perhaps you could tell me what is going on and what a kwami is?"

These questions seemed to ground Tikki. "A kwami is an ancient being that can transform people and give them superpowers. Do you know Marinette? She was chosen to be my wielder, so I need to get back to her!"

There. Is. A. Chosen. One. And she is a child.

But Liz had been dealing with politicians for years. Tikki didn't need to know how much Liz disapproved of this. At least not before she got all the information she needed.

"Wielder? And is there a reason why someone is chosen?"

"The person I lend my power to is my wielder! And it is the guardian who chooses them. Don't worry, Marinette is a good fit, she just needs a little time to get used to it." The being smiled as if cleared everything up. "You just have to close the box and give it back to Marinette. I will do the rest."

Liz ignored the last part. "So Marinette was Ladybug."

"Yes. I understand that you're curious but you need to give the earrings back to Marinette quickly before there is another attack." Tikki pleaded.

There was no way she would help anybody to force that child to fight. There had to be a better option. In her past no adult had cared to look for one, in this case she would.

"Please, tell me: Do you know what caused these attacks? Perhaps I could just go to the police..."

She would not, at least that was not all she would do but a seventeen-year-old civilian girl would have called her parents or the police. Hopefully the suggestion would convince Tikki to reveal more if only to avoid being brought.

"It's great that you want to help, but Nooroo, another kwami, is controlled by someone who wants to steal these earrings. I don't know who this person is, so you have to give me back directly to Marinette. The powers of a kwami can not be canceled by humans without one, I'm afraid. Don't worry everything's going to be alright if I get back."

How could someone be so cute and patronising all at once? On the other hand, this was an ancient god-like creature. And Liz had tried to look as confused as possible instead of calculating or furious.

"How do the powers of kwamis work? In the video Ladybug was faster and stronger than the average teenager."

Tikki frowned.

"Come on. Explain the capabilities of kwamis and why they have them. Please. I want to know what's happening." Liz tried to coax them.

Tikki answered. "Depending on the kwami they have different powers. We each are an attempt to control a specific area. Creation, destruction, transmission, protection, illusion, subjection, emotion, multiplication, intuition, teleportation, jubilation and so on. A ritual succeded in forming materials that stored a fraction of the energy used each time something happens that fits into their category.

Mine was the first one and because creation of some kind happens all the time my material was almost bursting with creation energy while the other rituals were performed. And just when they finished something miraculous happened. I was born and because I couldn't yet control my power a small part of it was transferred to the others and turned them sentient too. Our purpose remained to help those that wore the material though.

So every kwami is bonded to a specific piece of jewelery. The form of it can be changed if the holder is proficient in the arts of the guardians but there weren't many who wanted to do so.

The wielder of the miraculous has to wear the jewelery and tell the kwami to transform them in order to access their powers.

I can enable my user to create and restore.

Plagg, the black cat of destruction, is my opposite. He is not as powerful as I am but he is the closest to me in power.

No matter which miraculous a person works with, the energy it stores and collects automatically makes the wearer stronger, faster and more resiliant while transformed. And because a kwami's purpose is to help, they support the user only enough that the strain makes still for an optimal training most of the time. Therefore longtime users can feel the effects of it even when they don't have the miraculous anymore."

While Tikki was talking Liz took in the information but also wondered why Tikki was suddendly telling this to her...

Oh.

Liz knew how someone looked like when they were forced to answer a question through a bond or because of veritaserum.

In this case the current holder could apparently command the kwami.

How many bonds did she have now? Threehundred plus one? The answer was too many!

And if she used this bond she'd disregarded being rights. Again. She was trying not to be police, judge and jury but it wasn't as easy as deciding to never in any way take someone's free will away either. No matter what she did at least part of the consequences would be her responsability.

There hadn't be a perfect choice she could have made directly after the war, just one that was less terrible than the other. This time there probably wouldn't be a clear solution either, but for the moment she still had some time. The people who were turned into stonemonsters were just...frozen. Immediate action wasn't needed to stop a country from collapsing. In this situation there were perhaps other options.

Her first choice could not be to take someone's free will away only because she had the ability to do so and it was for "the greater good". Ugh.

Especially since Tikki had not commited any crimes and was not the danger others needed protection from.

Speaking of that being, they were saying something. "Now you know. Meaning we can go to Marinette, right?"

Okay. Time to convince the kwami to cooperate with her voluntarily.

The same one that had insisted on returning the minute they got here.

And the one she had accidently forced to reveal a lot of secrets.

The one who was looking a bit frusterated though they clearly had an unnaturally cheerful dispostion.

Easy, right?

Right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My explanation of the origin of kwamis is not canon by the way.  
> Hope you liked it :)


	7. It's sad that the guardian isn't available

Liz had retrieved the box with the earrings, put it on one of the countertops and faced the kwami flying in front of her, when she started to carefully try to convince Tikki.

"Marinette would do a good job, if not now, then with time, I'm sure. But wouldn't she have to give up a lot to do so? What would her parents say?" 

It wouldn't do to make Tikki defensive if Liz wanted the kwami to agree with her. Questions that would have needed to be answered anyway like how to deal with the reaction of those who cared about Marinette would hopefully received in a calmer manner than Liz' harsh criticism.

"She couldn't tell her parents. Kwamis and who uses them must be kept secret! The world would fall into chaos if everyone knew!" Tikki exclaimed.

Or not. Well, a topic change then.

"That's understandable. But it would also mean that Marinette has to lie to her parents, to her friends and can't talk to anyone about the difficulties of being Marinette Dupain-Cheng _and_ Ladybug. I think the fact that she gave you to me showed that it is too much pressure, stress and secrecy for her to be comfortable with that kind of life."

"Marinette just needs more self-confidence. I know it's not going to be easy to fight against Nooroo, but I will help her and she can talk to me! I'm sure she could do it!"

So. Much. Enthusiasm.

"She shouldn't have to."

"It's sweet of you to care about her. You're right, nobody should have to. But someone has to nontheless. And Marinette is a good person. She will help others!"

As if that should be the main problem. Apparently Liz would need to be a bit more direct.

"I don't doubt that she will. But at what price to herself? She would have to divide her energy between her normal life and Ladybug. When will she have time to meet with friends, to do homework, to _sleep_? How can she make plans to stop these attacks, when she has to be in school all day?"

Liz knew _exactly_ what she was talking about.

"Not to mention that she will get hurt physically and emotionally, that she could die defending Paris."

That Chat Noir hadn't been crushed in the fist of Stoneheart had been miraculous already. Plagg had probably destroyed most of the pressure Stoneheart had tried to use on him. The kid had been reckless during the whole battle, behaving as if nothing was able to harm him. And perhaps there wasn't at the moment, but sooner or later their opponent would adapt and figure out something that could.

"Even if Marinette can fulfill the role of a hero, she shouldn't be pressured to do so. I see why the police wouldn't be able to do much, but that doesn't mean Marinette has to fight.  
I would propose that you work with me instead."

Let's see what reaction that suggestion garnered. Surprise it seemed. Then thoughtfulness and then Tikki seemed to be unsure what to do. It was a strange look for the kwami.

"Wouldn't you have the same problems, though?"

"Not quite. I'm emancipated, which means that I don't have any parents or guardians from whom I would need to hide you. I haven't made any close friends in the past, so no one would notice if I don't have much free time anymore."

Chloé hadn't spend time with her before, so she didn't know what obligations Liz had. Even if they met regularly Chloé was only one person, so it should still be alright. If it was not Liz did have a time turner stashed away, although she wasn't about to tell Tikki about magic. That drama could wait.

"Depending on the severity of the situation, I could stop to go to school for a while. I have a previous history with illnesses, nobody would be terribly surprised if I pretended to have a relapse.

I can handle the stress and pressure of being Ladybug too, I think."

She couldn't imagine that anything would be worse than being Alice Potter, the Girl-Who-Lived, but never say never. Paris had a higher population than Hogwarts after all.

If that had been Tikki's only objection though, that had been easier than she thought it would be.

"I admit that you would probably have less problems defending Paris, but the guardian chose Marinette. He tests people to see if they are adequate candidates and Marinette passed this test. You seem nice, but I barely know you."

Ah.

She would like to have a _word_ with this guardian. He was the reason Marinette as well as another child had been chosen and this person seemed to have just thrown them into this with no explanation and no way to contact him. Since he seemed to be able to give kwamis to persons, a visit would serve two reasons at once.

"Maybe you could tell me where the guardian lives or how I could meet him. Then we could talk with him about this."

"No, I can't do that."

Pity.

"The guardian's identity is a secret even more important than those of the miraculous users." Tikki paused. Then sighed. "We can try to work together."

Liz smiled. "Great. At the moment the people that have been turned into stonemonsters can't move, so we have at least some time to figure out what I can do with your help while transformed and what I should do to end the next fight quickly and without casualties."

She would at least take Tikki's opinions under advisement even if she wouldn't agree to follow the creation kwami blindly. It was the user of a kwami they were going to fight against and even if Liz didn't know if Tikki had done this before it seemed very likely. In thousands of years the miraculous must have fallen into the wrong hands before. In any case Tikki could at least tell her more about kwamis and their powers. Which reminded her to ask

"Do you know when the next attack will be?"

"No, not exactly. When Ladybug and Chat Noir managed to subdue Stoneheart by breaking the paper he was holding in his fist, they didn't purify the Akuma that emerged from it. That's why it had the opportunity to multiply.

An Akuma is a butterfly imbued with Nooroo's power. Because Nooroo is the kwami of transmission, he can give people the aims of his user, for example. He is able to transmit power, characteristics and messages as well.

The copies the Akuma created can only make people do the same things as the original does. The copies are still connected to the orginal, in the same way as the original is connected to Nooroo. Nooroo can only control the copies through the orginal which is why they will only be activated when it is. If the person who was Stoneheart feels angry or hurt or helpless again the second attack will start.

Nooroo usually only adds to people who are already willing and, in most cases, prepared. His powers are weaker or negated entirely when the person disagrees or fights against his transmissions. If they are already emotionally compromised and do not have a strong personality yet, it's easier to influence them. Until the Akuma can remake Stoneheart it will wait."

So that's why he chose the child. Could she maybe just put a permanent cheering charm on Ivan? It would give her some more time to train and perhaps figure out how to release the transfigured people without letting Stoneheart be activated again. On the other hand, there was the risk of exposing magic, the risk of Ivan getting addicted, the risk of altering Ivan's character permanently, the morally dubious altering of the way he perceives the world without his knowledge...fine. Maybe not.

"Alright. When the attack does happen, what should I do?"

"You have to destroy the paper again and purify the Akuma that emerges. After you have done so, the other Akumas will be ejected from the stonemonsters. You have to catch and purify every single one."

"I suppose I'll transform beforehand?"

"Of course!" Tikki beamed cheerfully. "There's a _lot_ creation can do, but I've narrowed it down to three main functions you can access, so you don't have to figure out what to do and how you can do it in the middle of a fight."

"Sounds like a good idea." Liz muttered, a bit amused. "At least at the beginning."

Especially when Tikki was originally planning to let a child with no previous magical training handle that, Liz thought, her amusement fading.

"Alright, first there's your outfit. You will have a yoyo along with your suit. The suit mostly makes people unable to figure out your identity. It _creates_ a little confusion, uncertainty and distraction."

"In this case it would be helpful if it could create a resemblance to the first Ladybug as well." Liz suggested.

"Good idea! That will protect yours and Marinette's identity better. I'll make it so. The yoyo enables you to move fast towards a location by swinging there or you can pull items towards you. It expands and shrinks as needed of course. Don't worry about the stability of the object you hang onto, I'll take care of that.

Speaking of sturdiness. The yoyo is practically indistructable, so you can use it as a shield. There's also the possibility of turning it into a communicator or letting it show you a map. You are able to store things inside it or open the yoyo which brings me to the second main function.

After the akumatized object is destroyed, you have to open the yoyo by tracing a line across it with your finger. It will close automatically around the Akuma when you've caught it. Then you'll tip on the yoyo again and it will release the purified butterfly."

The abilities the transformation would grant her seemed useful, although she would, of course, only see if it worked when she tried it. For now, she'd have to concentrate on the theory.

"You said I can store things inside the yoyo. Why do the butterflies have to be released? Won't they fly back and wait until Nooroo's powers turn them into a transmitter again?"

"You're right, they probably will, but Nooroo doesn't _have_ to use butterflies. He could use anything. If we let them go, there's a better chance his user stays consistent in his choice and we'll know what to look out for."

"Perhaps, we can track a butterfly after it is purified. If they really do all fly back again, we might figure out who is using the miraculous relatively fast."

Although she still would need to deal with this new category of stuff-most-people-should-not-know-about afterwards, it'd be very nice to stop this attempt at terrorism quickly.

"I'm not sure I can. I am only able to transform you for a limited amount of time. That reminds me. Are you considered an adult?"

"Yes, I am." Not necessarily in her new identity here in France, but in the Wizarding World she certainly was. "Why?"

"If you are an adult, I can transform you for a larger timespan."

Well, that sounded suspicious. Even if this wasn't a rule, but something that depended upon the capabilities of either kwami or user, this made the decision to give Tikki to Marinette an even stranger and worse option. The other "hero" wasn't an adult either but the villain was in all propability. As if the kids hadn't had enough playing against them already, she was told that they could not stay transformed as long as their opponent.

Considering she was taking over now, it was just another thing added to the list of the guardian's offences, of course, but this could have had disastrous consequences.

A _word_ with the guardian was not quite sufficient anymore. If this was another old man pulling strings, either in the darkness or the light, she would not gurantee that he wouldn't end up like the others who had done so.

Tikki was blissfully oblivious to her thoughts.

"That makes everything easier, but it might still be difficult to stay transformed long enough to track the butterfly. Especially if you use your lucky charm. That's the third ability! If you don't know what to do, you can call "lucky charm". An object as well as a plan is then created that will help you achieve your current aim. Because creating something out of nothing takes the most energy you'll have to detransform soon after you've done so. When the fight is over you can call "miraculous ladybug" and everything that has been destroyed will be restored."

No wonder the lucky charm needed the most energy. But, more importantly...

"Does this apply to people too? If they die or get hurt will they be healed or resurrected?"

"Yes! If somebody is healed by an Akuma though, it won't be reversed. So it'll just help everyone!"

Tikki was flying up and down. Admittedly this was something to be ecstatic about.

Though the question remained

"Will they remember?"

Tikki's face fell. "Yes, unfortunately. I won't create forgetfulness. That will do more harm than good. Their memories are their own and their feelings are as well. I will send everyone caught up in the attacks some peace, but it would destroy them if I sent too much. They would think that something is wrong with themselves, if they would feel perfectly content after witnessing a battle."

Sigh.

"But thanks to you they will be alive and healthy." Liz answered and Tikki started to smile again. 

This was still much better than she thought the situation to be at the beginning. If she survived and kept the earrings, nobody would be dead at the end of the fight.

So she would.

"Let's train."


End file.
